Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an alerting system and, more particularly, to a vehicle child safety seat alert system that is integrated with the alarm and power system of a vehicle.
Description of the Prior Art
The need for alerting devices to help a caregiver remember to retrieve a child from a vehicle safety seat when exiting the vehicle is well established. While attempts to address this need have been made, a problem which still exists is that any existing systems are commonly unable to receive real time inputs relating to several vehicle and operators conditions in order to provide an alert when necessary without repeatedly generating false alarms. Thus, there remains a vehicle child safety seat alert system that combines three sensor systems to provide a dependable alerting mechanism that does not generate false positives. It would be helpful if such a vehicle child safety seat alert system requires the use of a single additional component positioned in vehicle safety seat. It would be additionally desirable for such a vehicle child safety seat alert system to able to be readily coupled with a vehicle's existing keyless entry and alerting systems.
The Applicant's invention described herein provides for a vehicle child safety seat alert system adapted to provide a sensory alert if a child is present in a vehicle once the vehicle has been off for a predetermined time period. The primary components in Applicant's vehicle child safety seat alert system are a weight sensor, a networking interface, a controller and an antenna. When in operation, the vehicle child safety seat alert system enables more effective and reliable notification of a child endangered in a vehicle while eliminating the issue of false positives. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by prior art structures are removed.